Important People

I have no idea what to write about. So I'm going to do what I do best: make a list!
I'm feelin' pretty social, so today's list will be about people that I like and enjoy associating with.

.999.  Chris Franz
Chris is a very stylish man with his lovely brown chaqueta. I was going to make him number five but he felt he needed to be before Jennie... but notice that she is still number 1.

1. Jennie Dietrich
This is the biggest lie ever. She's forcing me to put her first by threatening me. Plus, she stole all of my smiley stickers... every single one of them. Class "A" Jerk.

2. Carrie Cahill
My best friend for 11 years. One of the only two people that I trust with my life. If you don't know Carrie, you're seriously missing out. She's the complete opposite of outgoing and she's a good little shy girl, but we love her anyways. She's a good friend that enjoys the same stuff we do, so it's all good.

3. Krysta Hoover
My sister, and one of my bestfriends. She's the other person that I trust with my life. We do fight considering we're siblings but it's really rather rare and we get over it pretty quickly. We are a lot alike and like mostly the same things and going to the same places, so that probably contributes to why we get along. But overall she's a good friend and a good, trustworthy sister.

4. Alex Halbleib
My amazingly fantastic boyfriend. We get along better than any couple I've ever seen. We're both absolutely ridiclous and find the simplest enjoyments out of life when we're together. I can talk to him about anything and I know that he will always be there for me when I need him. I love him so much.

These are the three people (plus the random duo of Jennie and Chris) that mean the most to me, and I don't feel a need to put anyone else. They give me a reason to smile everyday and I couldn't ask for anyone better in my life.

"I Am Number Four" is good... for a Murrysvillian.

Guess what I saw this weekend?? I'll give you a hint: not one... not two... or even three... that's right! I AM NUMBER FOUR!

Wow, I'm cheesy.

Honestly, I had no idea what I was in for. I didn't read the book, which I usually do before seeing a movie, and I didn't have a full background on what the movie was even about. I know there were aliens, and they (I wasn't even sure who "they" were) killed three of them, and were after the fourth one in this movie. So that was my pre-viewing knowledge. Now I'm sitting here, a day after seeing it in theaters, and I'll give you a rundown on what happened. CAUTION: This run down may contain spoilers. Maybe.

So it started off with the bad aliens (I don't remember their names, but they were tall, had bad teeth & weird gill things by their noses, and bald tatted-up heads) killing off Number 3. This made Number 4 get this weird burning scar on his leg, which eventually led to him and his protector having to move to Paradise, OH. But as their packing the truck, you see this little gecko thing climb into their luggage, and you're sitting there thinking, Oh crap, oh crap, this isn't good! Then they burn all their stuff and drive away.

So then they get to Paradise and move into this crappy house. They have to completely change their identity, so it's at this point we learn Number 4's new name is Jack Smith and his protector is Henri. Anyways, Number 4 goes up to dye his hair and stuff to change his look. This gorgeous creature is what emerges:

That's what I'm talking 'bout. I give the person who assigned the roles of the characters props to this, because that boy is fine. Oh! So next... it switches to this scene outside where we see that mysterious gecko, and he climbs out of the truck and into this bush. We hear all this rummaging around this creature scurries away. It's moving too fast though and we can't see what it is. Then there's a knocking at the door pretty much immediately afterwords, and you're thinking, it's the evil gecko-creature-thing! Don't look!! But of course they do, and no one's there, but Number 4 looks down and sees a beagle sitting in the yard. Guess it turned into a beagle! But he decides he wants to keep the random dog he found in the yard, and of course throughout the movie we see him saying and doing very secretive things in front of him. So you just get that weird feeling in your stomach that something isn't going well with this.

So then he goes to school. Best past of the movie. Why? Because that's my school! Look look look!

That's a hallway at my school! That's so cool! So pretty much for the entire middle portion of the movie, I focused on the people in the background, trying to find the extras that I recognized. Mostly they were people that have already graduated, but I still knew them. It was really cool to see people that I knew in a real blockbuster movie! Plus I spent a lot of my time trying to find my artwork that I did that was used as props in the movie (2 chemistry projects) but I didn't see them unfortunately. =/ Anyways, the middle part of the movie was really slow. Basically he meets this photography-obsessed Sarah girl who he starts to like, only she has this jerk off ex boyfriend who keeps picking on poor Number 4. And they go to a hayride and the jerk's friends jump Number 4, and he totally whoops their butt, but the problem is that he used his special powers to hurt them and this one kid (I forget his name) saw him. Oh, and this one kid is like, obsessed with aliens and stuff, so he's like overly-thrilled that he thinks that he found one.

SO ANYWAYS. Stuff happened after that, yadda yadda yadda. I didn't care that much because I just liked pointing out the people that I knew. But then! The final fight scene was definitely the best part. Number 4 and Sarah run into the school to hide, but the evil aliens find them. They are almost toast when this girl comes out of nowhere and kills those particular evil aliens. We learn that she is Number 6, and she tells Number 4 that they need to get ready to fight because the evil aliens are surrounding the school. That kid who's obsessed with aliens shows up at the school with Number 4's dog, when he sees a huge bird-like creature flys out of this large semi, and the boys like... crap. That's when the dog starts barking, so the boy looks over and then it turns into a big scary creature, too! NEVER SAW THAT ONE COMING!

So inside the school, the alien-obsessed boys meets up with Number 4, Number 6, and Sarah. They're trying escape when they are attacked some more. They fight their way out of it, of course. Then the evil bird thing comes and almost gets Number 4, until something jumps out of nowhere and attacks the bird. It turns around and we see it's his dog! So at this point, we realize that this whole time, the dog was actually a GOOD alien. What a relief! So then they go onto the football field for the final fight scene, which is really intense, and our heroes come out on top. The football field is in ruins, and it makes me really admire how advanced our special effects are these days.

The movie ends with Number 4, Sarah, and Sarah's jerk ex who's no longer a jerk say their goodbyes. Number 6 waits impatiently as Number 4 does so. He also decides to bring along the boy who's obsessed with aliens, because they predict that the evil aliens kidnapped his father (we never met him, he was missing the whole movie). They drive off into the sunset, and leave us wondering if there will be a sequel to this movie.

Now to be honest, I don't know how I feel about this movie. Some parts of it were really good, others completely lost my interest. So that's why I'll give this movie three stars. I feel like if you didn't go to Franklin Regional, the movie might have been easier to actually pay attention to, because you wouldn't be trying to see people you know and stuff. Overall though, the movie was alright. If you live in the Murrysville area, I would recommend seeing it. It is rather interesting.

- Sara

"Anger is like peeing your pants...

 ... everyone can see it, but only you can feel it." - Jeff Yalden

So two days ago, our school was visited by a very special man. He looks like this:

Scary, right? Oh, no. This man knows what's up. I decided to blog about him because he was the first speaker that our school brought to us that I actually listened to. Actually, he's the only speaker that came to our school that anyone listened to. Usually when we have speakers, there's rustling and rude side comments being made all around the auditorium. But when Jeff Yalden spoke, you could hear a pin drop. No joke.

So first, I'll give you some background. Every year, our school tries to get one "influential" speaker to come in and talk to us about the importance of our life and what not. I guess they are supposed to motivate us to be better students and people or something. For example, last year, some girl came in that drank out of a cup with all of her friends at a party, and got some horrible disease from it. Then, she lost all four of her limbs. Yeah. You can imagine the rude comments that were made about her when she came. Honestly, I don't think anyone got one inspirational thing out of it. What a fail.

But this year, they decided to get someone that we'd be more familiar with. Jeff was a coach off the MTV show Made, which is a show that the majority of us are familiar with.The show deals with teenagers who want to change something about themselves, or be "made" into a different kind of person. They get paired up with these coaches that help them train to do what they want. So that's basically what he did.

But anyways...

Jeff came in to talk to us about what's really important in life. He started out slow, talking about how he's just an Average Joe with an average life. While most speakers come in looking business-like and professional, he was sportin' a long sleeve Harley Davidson shirt, plain jane jeans, and black boots. You can't get more typical man than that. I instantly was interested in what he had to say because he reminded me of my father so much, just by the way he dressed and presented himself. He began off with a few jokes, which instantly got the kids attention. Let me emphasize the word: kids. His jokes were a bit offending, but I mean, if you want to get across to kids today, that's the best way to get their attention. The teachers, however, I hear were not thrilled. He made jokes about everything, from Helen Keller to hoes. We laughed, but the teachers seemed a bit offended. The principal walked out of the auditorium, muttering about how she "had much better things to do than listen to this idiotic nonsense." I think the teachers were missing the point. He was there to be influential to us... not to them. And honestly, he did an amazing job. He knew exactly how to get everyone's attention, and keep it. We went from laughing to tearing up in a matter of five minutes by the way he explained his points. His stories and messages are really what took us.

His first story he took us in was about his past life. He was absolutely horrible in school, graduating 129 in a class of 133. Hey, at least he beat four people! He was rejected by over half the colleges he applied to. When he finally got a shot, he took it. He went to a college and majored in something he can't even spell, but he says that now he can fly airplanes and was a very high rank in the air force for a number of years. You can even tell from his persona that he was into that hardcore fighting stuff. Go Jeff!

He then talked about how he met his wife, got married, and had two beautiful, wonderful daughters. Again, this reminds me of my father. =) He went into a detailed story about how his family wasn't the lovey kind, and both his parents were alcoholics. So when he met his wife's father, they became instantly close. He went over his grandfather's house everyday and talked with him about life. Unfortunately, his grandfather died a little less than a year ago. Then began Mr. Yalden's first point: what if he never got the chance to say goodbye? What if we really had only a short time to live, would we do things differently? What would we tell the people that mean the most to us? These questions all gave us something to really think deeply about.

I don't want to tell Jeff's whole speech, but he went on a rant about other occurrences in his life, and how it has made him think and impacted his life. That was his main message, the four T's: Take Time To Think. Think about it. It applies to so many aspects of life. Think before you react. If something or someone makes you mad, rather than acting on impulse, think. Think of a better way to handle the situation. On another note, imagine you go through the same routine every day. Stop. Think. Is this the kind of life you have always wanted? Think about how to improve yourself. Think of the others in your life, the ones that love you, the ones that mean the most. Think of ways to make them proud, or happy. Everyone has a brain, so use it. Just think.

I think that Jeff was the most inspiration person that I have ever heard live, or maybe even in general. He had an excellent message for teens that I think is important to convey to us at this critical time in our lives. Also, I think that his speech helped a lot of people that may be going through a hard time in their life with relationships, academically, or family-wise. Jeff has been through it all, and look at where he is now. As long as you don't give up hope, you can make something of yourself, even if you are just that average kid. Even though a lot of the teachers didn't approve, I think this was the best way to convey messages to the kids. Getting down to our level and talking to us like you understand really make us listen to what you have to say. I give lots of kudos to Jeff Yalden, you did a fantastic job. I really enjoyed listening to this inspirational man talk.

- Sara

Big Girls DO Cry!

"I hope you know, I hope you know
That this has nothing to do with you
It's personal, myself and I
We've got some straightenin' out to do
And I'm gonna miss you like a child misses their blanket,
But I've got to get a move on with my life.
It's time to be a big girl now
And big girls don't cry
Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry"

We all know this song. Fergie came out with this song shortly after leaving the Black Eyed Peas for a trial at the solo life. Nonetheless, if you take the time to read the lyrics, the song's about her breaking up with her boyfriend and how she's going to "man up" and not cry about it. Although I'm sure a lot of girls agree that this is the best way to deal with something like that, is it really? Is hiding the hurt and fighting the tears really the best way out?

 The answer is no. At least, in my opinion. But if you get to know me, you'll know that I always think I'm right. I guess that's what you get when you take the two most strongly opinionated people and have a child. So it's just no. But why, you may ask?

Think about it. When you cry, you get all those feelings and emotions out into the open. You sit there and cry and think about every bad thing that just happened. Then after wards, you feel renewed. Things don't seem as bad anymore. Crying gives you a sense of refreshment, which is something that is much needed during this time. I never really understood why people always hold back their feelings, for I'm a very big-hearted individual and one to express exactly what I'm thinking. Besides, bottling everything will up will more than likely make you crack eventually. When this happens, it will happen worse, because everything will hit you all at once. You really don't want that.

So I just thought I'd share what I thought about the subject.
So if you're feelin' sad, don't be scared to let those tears fall, bloggers. =)

- Sara